Daily Bread

One day he (Jesus) got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

The other day I was driving around a place in Bermuda called Harrington Sound, a deep, saltwater lake. The sound is relatively small, being just two miles long and a mile and a half wide, yet the wind had whipped up the waves into a frenzy and it was shocking how such a small body of water could become utterly treacherous under certain conditions. Having in the past been in small boats and caught out in squalls, I know how the weather can turn suddenly, and how what began as a pleasant trip can become rapidly life-threatening.

This story about Jesus calming the storm is, on the surface (excuse the pun), a story about how Jesus had authority over nature, but at a deeper (excuse the pun again) level, it is a story about where lies our security. Jesus calmed the storm then turned to his disciples with a rhetorical question. Note, he doesn't ask them, "Where was your faith?" but, "Where is your faith?" In other words, now you have seen me calm the storm, in whom do you trust? And the answer is, of course, "In you, Jesus!"

Whether we are going through the storms of life or a relatively calm period, we too can look back to the cross of Christ, where all hope seemed to be lost, where there was pain, and suffering, and danger, but then on the third day, Jesus rose again from the tomb and death was conquered. With that picture in mind, we can hear Jesus' words to us, "Now, where is your faith?" and you know the answer.

Holy God
When the storms of life batter me,
and life events take a turn for the worse,
let me reflect on the fact that you have overcome.
Your presence is ever with me,
and I need never fear,
for I am not alone.
My faith is in you, Jesus Christ.
With all that I am and all that I have,
with every fibre of my being,
I trust in you.